This is when I discovered the stock websites. I thought to myself: hey, if I'm making a portfolio for myself anyways, I may as well upload and try to make a bit of money and get my stuff out there. I'm a person who makes songs quickly as well, so I figured that it may be a good match. Since this point I've been producing between 1 and 5 tracks per day.
How Does Selling Stock Actually Work and How to Get Started?
Which site to upload to was the big question. I was able to find limited guidance online, but did come across a few interesting articles such as:
http://filmandgamecomposers.com/guides/selling-music-online-the-stock-audio-market/
http://demoduck.com/2014/04/stock-music-for-video/
http://www.dayinthelifeofacommercialmusician.com/2014/03/best-sites-to-buy-stock-music-2014.html
Which Stock Music Libraries to Upload to?
It became clear that AudioJungle and Pond5 seem to dominate the market so these were my first choices. I also thought it prudent to branch out to sites that serve different audiences, and for this reason I also opened accounts at Tunefruit, Luckstock, and AudioSparx, Productiontrax, and PremiumBeats. Premium Beats and ProductionTrax turned me down after reviewing a portfolio, but the others were all a go. It's important to remember that different sites tend to specialize in different music, and my music did not fit well with a company like PremiumBeats, who do very well in their more niche market. After many rejections at first from AudioJungle, I decided to go exclusive on their site as well as exclusive on AudioSparx, where I concentrate on cinematic orchestral music) and then upload the remainder on all the other sites/
Rejection, Acceptance and Sales:
AudioJungle: 73 Rejected, 22 accepted, 7 sales ($51 profit) (exclusive artist)
Pond5: 7 Rejected, 209 Accepted, 12 sales ($100 profit) (non exclusive)
Luckstock: 6 Rejected, 105 accepted, 0 sales (non-exclusive)
Tunefruit: 0 rejected, 1 accepted, 0 sales (non-exclusive)
Audiosparx: 26 accepted, 0 sales (exclusive artist)
Compare and Contrast of Stock Music Site:
As one can see clearly from the above data, I've only made sales on AudioJungle and Pond5. Moreover, Audiojungle has rejected many of my tracks. This blog post isn't about quality, but I would agree with the majority of their rejections as being a correct assessment of the commercial viability of the music, especially for their client base. Luckstock is easy to use and upload to, but I have gotten very few views and no sales on this site. As for Audiosparx, I get the impression that they are either becoming obsolete or that they are not hugely supportive of new artists. While they have a hot new artists program, I never received a reply after applying for this status. In any case, I will be putting Audiosparx on hold, unless I get a sale and then will continue uploading there.
What's Next?
As of the last day or two I've begun working on indie rock songs, in order to compete in Audiojungle's current competition. For me this is a way to stay interested and have a goal. I've made a ton of orchestral tracks and ambient tracks, which are what come easily to me, but I am enjoying the challenge of making indie songs right now, which requires more recording of vocals and guitars and a very different sensibility. I uploading my very first indie track today, and it will hopefully show up on AudioJungle in a few days, provided it is accepted.
Conclusions:
Having no connections in commercial music coming into this, I did not expect to be selling tons right away. I'm happy with my current progress and I hope to keep moving forward and build up an interesting library and increase my sales to a steady income stream.